A taxonomy of visual perception skills for teaching photography in the elementary school

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to investigate the teaching of photography in the elementary school as a means of enhancing the development of visual awareness in children. Studies have shown that children's visual perception development can be advanced through training programs that encourage observation and responsive selection of visual stimuli. Because perceptual development is one of the goals of art education, the development of art curricula that can best account for children's perceptual growth is warranted. The photography curriculum developed in this study attempts to enhance the perceptual development of children.In Chapter I, the problem area was discussed and procedures for conducting the study were established. The problem was two-fold and questioned first whether or not a taxonomy of visual perception skills could be developed and used for the identification of educational goals and objectives, and second what black and white photographic projects should be included in a visual perceptual curriculum. Strategies were presented to insure a detailed and systematic examination of the perception and photography areas.Chapter II included an examination of the background literature pertinent to the development of the problem. The two areas covered were: 1) children's visual perceptual development, and 2) the teaching of photography. An analysis of selected perceptual theories and conditions important to the development of a taxonomy was presented in Chapter III. Due to the excessive number of perceptual theories found in the literature, only the theories of Jean Piaget, Jerome Bruner, Eleanor Gibson, James Gibson, June McFee, Viktor Lowenfeld, along with some of the theories concerning Gestalt psychology, perceptual orientation, perceptual sets, and motivation were included. None of these theories attempted to provide all the answers to perception, but each was used as an empirical base from which a taxonomy of visual perception skills was developed.In Chapter IV a taxonomy was presented for classifying the various visual perception concepts and skills into an organized structure. Taxonomic systems have been used in diverse educational situations for identifying goals and objectives. From an analysis of the visual perception literature, the major components of perception discussed by the various authors were isolated and organized into a workable list. Each component was defined and analyzed to determine similarities and differences. From the analysis the following major categories were chosen to comprise the taxonomy:1.00 Perception of Form2.00 Perception of Space3.00 Perception of Movement and Events4.00 Perception of Illusions5.00 Perception of RepresentationsFinally, in Chapter V the material presented in the previous chapters was synthesized into a photography curriculum for the elementary school. The taxonomy developed in Chapter IV was the system used for identifying the major goals and objectives required for enhancing the perceptual development of children. If the goal of art education is the development of children's visual awareness, then a properly structured photography program may provide the necessary educational experiences for this development.Based on the study and a review of the literature, the author concluded that photography can be singled out as a potentially viable method for stimulating visual awareness in children. However, photography remains one of the least understood and investigated communication mediums. Children today live in a highly visual society that constantly bombards them with instant communication media. Therefore, further investigations need to take place to reveal the educational potentialities which photography has for the elementary school curriculum.